Cryo-EM resolution revolution (2013–2017)
Direct electron detectors and new computational methods pushed cryo-electron microscopy to near-atomic resolution, letting scientists solve structures of proteins too large or fragile for X-ray crystallography. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank, and Richard Henderson for developing cryo-EM.
A flood of high-resolution structures of ribosomes, ion channels, and viral capsids.
Structural biology shifted from protein crystals to single particles, but still relied on purified molecules.
The Cell studies extend that revolution one step further, imaging the same machines inside intact cells without purification.
